Foldable wheel chair and steerable wheel attachment therefor



Aug. 18; 1953 D. D. DVEISSNER FOLDABLE WHEEL CHAIR AND STEERABLE WHEEL ATTACHMENT THEREFOR Filed June a, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Douglas D. Deissner INVENTOR ATTORNEY Aug. 18, 1953 DElSSNER 2,649,309

FOLDABLE WEEL HAIR AND STEERABLEI WHEEL' ATTACHMENT THEREFOR;

Filed June 8, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvemon AZI'TORNEY Douglas D. Deissner FIG-3 Patented Aug. 18, 1953 c A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDABLE WHEEL CHAIR AND STEERABLE WHEEL ATTACHMENT THEREFOR Douglas D. Deissner, Spokane, Wash.

Application June 8, 1951, Serial No. 230,657

2'Claims.

This invention relates to the broad class of aids for the physically incapacitated and more particularly to an invalids chair which is collapsible and also convertible from indoor use for use as a street vehicle.

One object of the invention lies in the provision of an invalids chair which is collapsible for storage and will thus take up a relatively small area when stored.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of an invalids chair which may be folded or collapsed and unfolded or extended with ease by one who is physically disabled to some extent.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of an invalids chair which may with facility be converted for use as a street vehicle by substituting a single steering wheel, or relatively large diameter, for the caster wheels of the chair when adapted for indoor use.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of an invalids chair adaptable to having the large wheels carried by either the front or rear legs, whichever is desired by the user, and also is adapted to secure the casters in one of three positions as required by reasons of the position of the large wheels.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a chair of this type which is strong, light of weight and easy to manipulate from a seated position in the chair, and because of its strength, a chair which is not liable to wear out or become bent or twisted because-of constant use.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of an invalids chair which will be very handy and which, by reason of its simple construction, will be inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

In the exemplifying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts,

Figure 1 is a perspecive view of one embodiment of the chair of my invention as adapted for inside use and with the single steering wheel, which converts the chair for street use, shown in dotted lines,

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of the chair taken just inside of the near side frame,

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the chair in its folded position and shown in dotted lines in its extended position,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the large wheel axle bolts,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross section taken through the telescopic angle brace and showing the brace locking mechanism, and,

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the steering wheel and its frame, with a portion of the side bars broken away for convenience in illustration.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, my improved chair comprises a cushioned seat 1 which has the usual backing board or plate 8 carrying a resilient padding 9 held in place by suitable upholstery material I0. The plate 8 is provided at one under side edge with an elongated tube 1 I secured thereto as by screws I2 and a bolt l3, secured by nut 13', passes through the tube H from front to back and is supported at its ends in front and rear legs l4 and [5 of the Side frame l6 spaced from the opposed side frame IS. The opposed under side edge of plate 8 is provided with an elongated inverted U-shaped saddle H which rests over a second bolt 18 secured by a suitable nut and carried by the front and rear legs I4 and [5 of the opposed side frame l6.

At their lower ends, each pair of front and rear legs !4 and !5 are secured in spaced relation by means of a forwardly extending horizontal bar l9 having end portions 29 which extend beyond the front and rear legs. Front legs I4 bend rearwardly at a point 2i upwardly of the seat i and form horizontal arm rests 22 which extend rearwardly and secure at 23 to rear legs I5. Rear legs i5 extend upwardly beyond their juncture with arm rests 22 and bend rearwardly at 24 to form handles 25 which are provided with hand grips 26. V

Th chair frame is braced by means of horizontally disposed restricted knuckle joint braces 21 which are pivoted at each end to said legs. One brace 21' extends between the two spaced rear legs 15 and asecond brace extends between the two spaced front legs Hi. The braces each comprise sections 28 and 29 which are pivoted together at a point 30 midway the width of the unfolded chair, and sinc section 28 is somewhat longer than section 29, section 28 has a projecting end portion 28 which is juxtaposed with section 29 when the brace is extended. The portion 28' has a slot 3| which lowers over a rivet or stop 32 secured to th section 29, thus restricting the downward movement of the pivot 30 and cause the brace to break upwardly only.

I A telescopic angle brace 33 consists of two sections 34 and 35. Section 34 is slidable longitudinally within section 35 and is pivotally connected.

to the lower end of one front leg M. The outer end of section 35 is pivotally secured to the pposed front leg M at a point 36 adjacent the bolt l8 and under the seat 1. To secure the angle brace in the extended position, I have provided a novel internal snap lock which comprises a leaf spring 31 riveted at 38 to the inner side wall of section 34, and this spring carries at its free end at right angles thereto a latch 39 having a bulbous end =40 which extends through a circular aperture 4! formed in the side wall of section 34. Adjacent the lower end 41' of section and internally of the section, I form the side wall with an arcuat recess 42 which conforms to the periphery of the bulbous latch and the recess 42 is made deep enough to form an external opening through which a portion of the bulb lfl may extend when seated in the recess.

Since the bulb 2D is seated in the recess -'42 -a depth equal to its radius, it will not be liable to accidentally shift out of the recesywhen end pressure is applied to brace 33. When it is desired to fold the chair, manual pressure upon the exposed. portion of bulb 48 will shift it inwardly from its seat and end pressure'on the brace will then cause the bulb to slide as a cam over the inner edge of its seat t! and allow the brace to telescope.

To provide 'a back rest 43 I have supplied fabric or other flexible -material between the spaced rear legs above the seat. The fabric :is secured'by wrapping the ends thereof about the legs and stitching the ends to the body in enveloping relation to the legs.

Wheels 1 i are carried by axles :25 secured to selected pairs of front or rear legs bypassing a reduced and threaded end portion 45 through transversely aligned openings 1 and applying clamping nut 48. The nut 18 is provided with-a loop or ring 13. It will be seentha-t'the wheels may be pivotally secured to either the "front legs or the rear legs as desired by the chairs user. And when the wheels are mounted on the rear legs as shown, caster wheels 5%! may be ,positimled in sockets 52 or 52 of the bars 19. When the Wheels M are mounted upon the front legs, the caster wheels are moved to the rear sockets 53 adjacent the rear end of bars i9.

A foot rest 54 is hingedly connected at 55 to one bar 19 adjacent its forward end, and a U- shaped saddle 58 rests over the opposed bar [9 to support the rest forwardly and downwardly from the seat.

To convert the chair for street use, I have provided a steering wheel 5'! which is carried by a fork 58. The fork has an upwardly extending tube 58' which passes through a sleeve 59 and is journaled therein for pivotal movement. A handle is pivotally connected to the upwardly pro jecting end of the tube 58' for vertical movement to adjusted positions. Sleeve 59 is supported by welding to the ends of downwardly angled and diverging side bars 6i which are bent at 62 to dispose their rear end portions 63 in spaced horizontal and parallel relation. Holes 64 are provided in each side bar in position to align with holes 41 in the front legs l4, and bolts may be passed through these aligned holes to secure the side bars to the front legs. The extreme rear end portions of the side bars are passed through the rings '49 of the axle nuts and are thus carried and supported to prevent movement of the side bars when bolted to the front legs. When the steering wheel 57 is applied, caster wheels 50 may be removed and the chair is in condition for street use.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An 'invalids convertible wheel chair comprising spaoed side frames having front and rear legs, a seat hingedly supported between the legs of one 'side frame for vertical tilting movement, means carried by the other side frame and re leasably supporting the opposed side of the seat, a flexible back rest carried by the rear legs of each side frame and extending transversely of the chair upwardly of the seat, said front legs being bent rearwardly to form arm rests upwardly spaced from said seat, bars secured to the lower ends of front and rear legs of each side frame and-adapted to receive caster wheels for rolling support, a foot rest pivotally carried by one bar and releasably supported by the other, .foldable frame work pivotally united to said frames-and adapted to yield-ably hold the frames in unfolded position, axially aligned axles having reducedan-d threaded portions extending through said rearlegs, nutson said portions for securing the'axles in said legs and having rings adapted to receive side bars of a steerable street wheel, means associated with said front legs adapting them to releasably secure said side bars forwardly of said rings, and supporting wheels rotatably carried by said axles.

2. Aninvalids convertible wheel chair comprising-spaced sid frames adapted to carry-an individual-in the-seated position, axially aligned axles carried by said frames and havingsupporting wheels journaled thereon, means for securing said axles to said frame and including rings adapted to --reoeiv-e side bars of a steerable street wheel,' and means disposed forwardly of said-rings, and associated with said side frames adapting the frames to releasably secure said side bars, whereby said chair is convertible from an indoor wheel chair to astrect vehicle.

DOUGLAS D. DEISSNER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES EPA TENTS Number Name Date 91,169 Schmitt June 8, 1869 516,786 Clark Mar, 20, 1894 1,168,956 Nelson Jan. 18, 1916 2,486,015 Everest et a1 Oct. 25, 1949 

